The Return of the IPL

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE

16 April 2014 - 1 June 2014

The IPL couldn't have come at a better time, just weeks after the conclusion of the World T20. While the cricketers are still buzzing from it.

Harbhajan Singh, Chris Gayle & Adam Gilchrist did the gangnam style last season. Apparently Chris Gayle and Yuvraj Singh will do the gangnam dance together this season - I cannot wait for that.

TEAMS

Chennai Super Kings

Delhi Daredevils

Kings XI Punjab

Kolkata Knight Riders

Mumbai Indians

Rajasthan Royals

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Sunrisers Hyderabad

TOP AUCTIONS

Yuvraj Singh was the highest purchase for Rs. 14 crore, purchased by the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Dinesh Karthik was not far behind going for Rs. 12.5 crore and purchased by the Dehli Daredevils.

Kevin Pietersen, Mitchell Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, Jacques Kallis, David Warner and Robin Uthappa were purchased between Rs. 10 crore and Rs. 5.5 crore.

(Crore: a unit of value equal to ten million rupees or 100 lakhs)

PROTEAS IN THE IPL

Faf du Plessis - Chennai Super Kings

Quinton de Kock - Dehli Daredevils

JP Duminy - Dehli Daredevils

Wayne Parnell - Dehli Daredevils

Jacques Kallis - Kolkata Knight Riders

Morne Morkel - Kolkata Knight Riders

David Miller - King’s XI Punjab

Beuran Hendricks - King’s XI Punjab

Marchant de Lange - Mumbai Indians

Albie Morkel - Royal Challengers Bangalore

AB de Villiers - Royal Challengers Bangalore

Dale Steyn - Sunrisers Hyderabad

Du Plessis, Duminy, Parnell, de Villiers and Steyn have been in impeccable form, with the World T20 as a witness. However, de Kock, the Morkel brothers, Miller and Hendricks were not hitting the right notes, but they are getting there. The inclusion of de Lange is quite questionable due to his injury record. He hasn't played much cricket because of his long list of injuries.

Other South Africans involved in the IPL are the Proteas’ team director Paddy Upton who coaches the Rajasthan Royals, bowling coach Allan Donald who will be the bowling coach for the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Jonty Rhodes will be the Mumbai Indians' fielding coach.

PREVIOUS WINNERS

2014 - TO BE CONFIRMED

2013 - Mumbai Indians

2012 - Kolkata Knight Riders

2011 - Chennai Super Kings

2010 - Chennai Super Kings

2009 - Deccan Chargers

2008 - Rajastan Royals

The Chennai Super Kings have won the IPL twice, consecutively. Maybe this could be the year they bag their 3rd IPL trophy. With the likes of Dhoni, B McCullum, R Ashwin, Raina and many others, there's nothing stopping them.

The Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajastan Royals could join the Chennai Super Kings by recording their second IPL title.

It will be more challenging for teams like the Dehli Daredevils, King's XI Punjab, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad because they could win their first IPL trophy this year.

IPL BOLLYWOOD CELEBRITIES

Preity Zinta

Shahrukh Khan

Shilpa Shetty

Maybe there are more bollywood stars who have invested in IPL teams, but these are the prominent 3.

Apparently other bollywood stars like Salman Khan, John Abraham, Ranbir Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan have been enquiring about having a stake in the IPL. Maybe they're seeing how much fun stars like Zinta, Khan and Shetty are having and maybe the revenue is sky high too.

Last Words on the ICC World T20

ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014 Team

Rohit Sharma (India) – 200 runs

Stephan Myburgh (Netherlands) – 224 runs

Virat Kohli (India) – 319 runs

JP Duminy (South Africa) – 187 runs

Glenn Maxwell (Australia) – 147 runs

MS Dhoni (India - capt, wk) – 50 runs, 6 dismissals

Darren Sammy (West Indies) – 101 runs

Ravichandran Ashwin (India) – 11 wickets

Dale Steyn (South Africa) – 9 wickets

Samuel Badree (West Indies) – 11 wickets

Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka) – 5 wickets

12th Player: Krishmar Santokie (West Indies) – 8 wickets

David Boon of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees was the chairman of the independent jury that selected the Men’s Team of the Tournament. Other members of the panel included Marais Erasmus of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires, former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram, ex-England captain Nasser Hussain, former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop and Utpal Shuvro, one of Bangladesh’s senior-most cricket correspondents.

ICC World T20 in Numbers

No team managed to score 200+ runs during the tournament.

±300 sixes were scored in the tournament.

Highest Total

South Africa scored 196/5 after 20 overs at 9.80 runs per over against England in Chittagong. Moreover, 389 runs were scored between them. South Africa won by 3 runs.

Lowest Total

Sri Lanka recorded a tournament best when they won by 9 wickets with 90 balls remaining after dismissing the Netherlands for 39 in 10.3 overs in Chittagong.

Largest Victory

West Indies beat Pakistan by 84 runs after they posted 167 in Dhaka.

Most Extras In An Innings

West Indies (171/7) recorded the most extras in an innings with 19 (10 byes, 1 leg bye, 7 wides and 1 no ball) against Bangladesh in Dhaka.

Most Runs

Virat Kohli was the top run scorer with 319 runs from 6 matches with a high score of 77. Although he did not score a century, Kohli scored 4 half centuries, 24 fours and 10 sixes.

Tom Cooper was second with 231 runs from 7 matches with a high score of 72*. Cooper scored 1 half century, 22 fours and 10 sixes.

Stephan Myburgh was third with 224 runs from 7 matches with a high score of 63. Myburgh scored 3 half centuries, 26 fours and 13 sixes.

High Scores

Alex Hales (116*) and Ahmed Shehzad (111*) were the only two players to score a centuries.

Alex Hales' 116* was the highest score in an innings by any batsman. He made his 116* from 64 balls with 11 fours and 6 sixes against Sri Lanka in Chittagong.

Ahmed Shehzad scored an unbeaten 111*. His 111* came from 62 balls with 10 fours and 5 sixes against Bangladesh in Dhaka.

Umar Akmal scored 94 runs off 54 deliveries, scoring 9 fours and 4 sixes against Australia in Dhaka.

Mahela Jayawardene scored 89 runs from 51 balls, managing 11 fours and 3 sixes against England in Chittagong.

JP Duminy scored an unbeaten 86* from 43 deliveries, scoring 10 fours, 3 sixes and an impressive strike rate of 200.00 against New Zealand in Chittagong.

Most Fifties

Virat Kohli scored 4 half centuries. These half centuries came from 24 fours, 10 sixes and a high score of 77.

Stephan Myburgh scored 3 half centuries with 26 fours, 13 sixes and a high score of 63.

Aaron Finch and Rohit Sharma both scored 2 half centuries. Finch scored his half centuries with 17 fours, 7 sixes and a high score of 71. Sharma scored his half centuries with 19 fours, 6 sixes and a high score of 71*.

These cricketers scored 1 half century each: Elton Chigumbura, Faf du Plessis, Subash Khakurel, Mohammad Shahzad, Andrew Poynter, Shafiqullah, Paul Stirling, Brendan Taylor, Ross Taylor, Ahmed Shehzad, Alex Hales, Brendon McCullum, Glenn Maxwell, Eoin Morgan, Umar Akmal, Kane Williamson, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Chris Gayle, Kumar Sangakkara, Dwayne Smith, Yuvraj Singh, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Kusal Perera, Tom Cooper and Shakib Al Hasan.

Most Ducks

Irfan Ahmed, Tanwir Afzal, Ziaur Rahman, Dwayne Bravo and Stephan Myburgh were dismissed with a duck twice.

Most Sixes

13 - Stephan Myburgh

12 - Glenn Maxwell

10 - Virat Kohli

10 - Tom Cooper

9 - Shakib Al Hasan

8 - JP Duminy

8 - Anamul Haque

Most Wickets

Imran Tahir and Ahsan Malik were joint top wicket takers with 12 wickets each. Tahir with a best of 4/21 and Malik with a best of 5/19.

4 Wickets In An Innings

Nadeem Ahmed, Tinashe Panyangara, Rangana Herath, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dale Steyn, Samuel Badree, Imran Tahir, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ahsan Malik each took four wickets in an innings.

5 Wicket Haul

Ahsan Malik and Rangana Herath each took a 5-wicket haul.

Nuwan Kulasekara finished with most maiden overs (3) in the tournament.

Ravichandran Ashwin finished with the most dot balls (74).

Most Dismissals (wk)

8 - Quinton de Kock

7 - Wesley Barresi

6 - Kamran Akmal, Luke Ronchi, Denesh Ramdin, MS Dhoni and Mushfiqur Rahim.

Most Catches

7 - Dwayne Bravo

6 - Glenn Maxwell

5 - Corey Anderson, AB de Villiers, David Miller, Virat Kohli and Peter Borren.

100+ Run Partnerships

152 - Alex Hales & Eoin Morgan

145 - Tillakaratne Dilshan & Mahela Jayawardene

118 - Aaron Finch & Glenn Maxwell

112 - Shakib Al Hasan & Mushfiqur Rahim

106 - Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli

101 - AD Poynter & Kevin O'Brien

100 - Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli

For more statistics go to:

ESPNcricinfo!

Reliance ICC Player Rankings T20i

The Reliance ICC T20I Team Rankings after the ICC World Twenty20.

Kohli was named player of the tournament for ending as the highest run-scorer of the tournament with 319 runs at an average of 106.33 and a strike rate of 129.14.

As a result, Kohli gained 68 ratings points to move up to a best-ever 889 ratings points, just three behind number-one ranked Australian batsman Aaron Finch.

Suresh Raina moved down 3 places to tenth place.

Sri Lanka's Kusal Perera, in fifth position, is the only batsman from his side in the top 10.

Faf du Plessis entered the top 10 for the first-time ever. He moved up 11 places to sixth place. While JP Duminy moved up one place to seventh.

Outside the top 20, the other batsmen to move upwards are Hashim Amla in 22nd place (up by two), Rohit Sharma in 26th (up by one), Dwayne Bravo in 29th (up by two), Angelo Mathews in 41st (up by six), Dwayne Smith in 47th (up by one), David Miller in 59th (up by two), Thisara Perera in 67th (up by three) and Ajinkya Rahane in 85th (up by four).

Ravichandran Ashwin now shares the third position on the bowlers’ table with Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal.

Ashwin finished with 11 wickets in the tournament at an average of 11.27 and an economy rate of 5.35 runs per over. Ashwin ended as the fourth highest wicket-taker in the tournament. He had spells of three for 22 in the semi-final against South Africa and one for 29 in the final against Sri Lanka. These efforts helped him gain 25 ratings points to end at a best-ever 711.

West Indies' Samuel Badree is still at the summit of the bowlers with teammate Sunil Narine in second place.

Inside the top 20, Sri Lankan captain Lasith Malinga moved up three places to 13th while South Africa's leg-spinner Imran Tahir entered the top 20 for the first-time ever as he rose four places to a best-ever 17th.

 

Outside the top 20, the bowlers who moved up are Marlon Samuels in 35th (up by five), Bhuvneshwar Kumar in 54th (up by 10), Amit Mishra in 60th (up by 14), Rangana Herath in 70th (up by 31) and JP Duminy in 92nd (up by five).

Jayawardene & Sangakkara T20i Retirement

Mahela Jayawardene finished in 12th place on the batting table (down two) and Kumar Sangakkara ended at 17th place (up by one).

Jayawardene's highest position he ever reached was number two in March 2013. While Sangakkara’s best-ever ranking was the third position in December 2009.

Sri Lanka reclaimed the number-one position on the Reliance ICC T20I Team Rankings Table, after beating India in the final to win the tournament for the first-time ever.

6 April 2014

Sri Lanka Crowned ICC World T20 Champions

India Road To Final

v Pakistan - won by 7 wickets

v West Indies - won by 7 wickets

v Bangladesh - won by 8 wickets

v Australia - won by 73 runs

v South Africa - won by 6 wickets

Sri Lanka Road To Final

v South Africa - won by 5 runs

v Netherlands - won by 9 wickets

v England - lost by 6 wickets

v New Zealand - won by 59 runs

v West Indies - 27 runs (D/L)

Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bowl.

India

RG Sharma, A Rahane, V Kohli, Y Singh, S Raina, MS Dhoni, R Jadeja, R Ashwin, A Mishra, B Kumar, M Sharma

Sri Lanka

K Perera, T Dilshan, M Jayawardene, K Sangakkara, A Mathews, L Thirimanne, T Perera, N Kulasekara, S Senanayake, R Herath, L Malinga

Rahane was beautifully bowled by Mathews in the second over.

The loss of Rahane put India under pressure. That was until R. Sharma started to score boundaries. Moments later R. Sharma nearly lost his wicket to a run out attempt by Sri Lanka.

A terrible powerplay result by India, 31-1.

Kohli was handed a life line when Malinga dropped him on 11.

Kohli and R Sharma reached a 50 run partnership.

After an lbw scare, R Sharma fell to the bowling of Herath.

Kohli reached a T20 international 50 from 43 balls.

Kohli brought up India's 100 with a 6 off the bowling of Kulasekara in 15.1 overs. Kohli also produced India's big over of 16 runs. He then became a part of another 50 run partnership, this time with Yuvraj and it was fast becoming the Kohli show.

Yuvraj tried to go big but was dismissed by Kulasekara with a catch from T Perera in the 18th over.

Kohli lost his wicket from the last ball of the innings and he was gone for 77 runs from 58 deliveries.

In 20 overs India finished with figures of 130-4.

Sri Lanka needed 131 runs to win from 20 overs at 6.55 runs per over.

K Perera hit the ball high but Jadeja got under it to take the catch and he was out.

Mahela Jayawardene reached 1 000 runs in his final match.

Kohli was on the boundary rope and took the catch of Dilshan as he attempted a 6.

Sri Lanka finished their powerplay with a score of 42-2.

The two retiring players, Jayawardene and Sangakkara, were batting their last innings together.

Sri Lanka reached 50 runs in 8.1 overs.

After smashing a 4, Jayawardene hit one straight into the hands of Ashwin.

Thirimanne was out after getting a bottom edge off the bowling of Mishra.

Rahane dropped T Perera in the 18th over, Sri Lanka needing 13 to win from 18 balls.

Sangakkara reached 50 runs in 33 deliveries.

T Perera and Sangakkara reached a 50 run partnership just moments before the end of the match.

Virat Kohli was named Man of the Tournament.

Sri Lanka won the ICC World T20 by 6 wickets with 13 balls remaining.

4 April 2014

Kohli breaks South African hearts

South Africa won the toss and elected to bat.

India

RG Sharma, A Rahane, V Kohli, Y Singh, S Raina, MS Dhoni, R Jadeja, R Ashwin, A Mishra, B Kumar, M Sharma

South Africa

Q de Kock, H Amla, F du Plessis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, D Miller, A Morkel, W Parnell, D Steyn, B Hendricks, I Tahir

Kumar claimed the first wicket in the first over of the semi-final. De Kock out for just 6 runs.

The 4th over gave South Africa 17 runs as Amla and du Plessis targeted the boundaries.

Ashwin began with a wide but his second delivery turned and banged off stump out of the ground. Amla gone for 22, South Africa 44-2.

South Africa finished the powerplay on 47-2. Plus reached 50 runs in 7.2 overs. Unfortunately, the run rate declined after the dismissal of Amla as India were putting pressure on South Africa.

A big No ball from Mishra resulted in a Free Hit and du Plessis hit it up and over for a boundary.

The skipper got going when he hit the first 6 of the innings with a one hand shot over the boundary.

Du Plessis and Duminy made a 50 run partnership off 44 deliveries. Du Plessis reached his 5th T20i half century off 36 balls.

South Africa reached 100 runs in 12.3 overs after a 6 from Duminy.

An interesting dismissal for India. The ball hit the side of du Plessis' rib cage and it ricocheted onto his stumps and he was gone.

De Villiers hit the ball straight into the air and he was gone for 10 runs.

Ashwin finished with figures of 3-22 in 4 overs. His secret weapon - the carrom ball.

With one over remaining, Duminy was 6 runs short of a half century but Miller was on strike. After 2 runs each, Miller hit the 3rd delivery for a 6 down the ground. The 4th delivery was a dot ball, the 5th a boundary and the last ball was 2 runs.

20 overs gone, South Africa 172-4.

India needed 173 runs to win from 20 overs at 8.65 runs per over.

Phenomenal start by India with 14 runs off the first over.

R Sharma hit the ball high in the air, it stayed there for a while, enough to get the skipper under it, to take the catch off the bowling of Hendricks.

India beat their best powerplay score with 56-1.

Parnell got the breakthrough with the wicket of Rahane, de Villiers making a lot of ground to take the catch.

India reached 100 in 12.3 overs. In comparison, both teams were on 101-2 at the same stage. At that moment, it was GAME ON!

Kohli reached his 3rd T20i half century in 4 innings. Plus, a 50 run partnership between him and Yuvraj. Unfortunately, the next ball resulted in the dismissal of Yuvraj after he hit the ball high but not enough to stop de Villiers from diving under it to take another catch.

The big 17 run over from Parnell made the match tighter.

About 18 overs gone, India needed 16 runs to win from 15 balls. By then, India had it in the bag. Kohli was probably hitting the ball too hard, so a change of the ball was in order.

A slower ball from Hendricks claimed the wicket Raina. South Africa still fighting.

Dhoni could have scored the final runs but decided to let Kohli do it. Steyn took the last over, Kohli on strike and he hit four runs to take India to the final.

India beat South Africa by 6 wickets and 5 balls to spare and will face Sri Lanka in the final on Sunday.

Kohli was named man of the match. He is also the top scorer of the tournament with 242 runs and one match still to be played.

I'm heart broken. I can't believe we lost. Actually I can but I just don't want to. I watched each and every match. I screamed, shouted, laughed and cried. Win, lose or draw, I love my Proteas.

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